The Grain Column with Emma Savage

Feed wheat for spot collection is currently valued somewhere in the region of £148/T ex-farm.

Following the news that Vivergo has once again opened its doors this morning on a ‘temporary basis’, the spot feed wheat market has suffered an extremely volatile week.

Current values are firm and buyer interest is good and £150/T ex-farm is available to those who are both conveniently located and flexible on collection – please speak with the office to discuss your requirements.

Further forward, buyer demand into the summer months is finally improving with £152/T ex-farm offered for July collection this morning.

As for milling wheats, the premium market is finally beginning to play ‘catch up’ following a slow start to the week.

Soft Group 3 wheats at full specification are currently commanding a £4/T-£5/T premium whilst full specification Group 1 varieties are commanding an £8/T premium.

This month’s World Agricultural Supply and Demand Estimates (WASDE), courtesy of the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) were released on Thursday evening, leaving the global market subdued on Friday whilst the trade digested the numbers.

Although the report may appear bullish, the market had a minimal reaction to the numbers as it didn’t reveal anything too drastic – the trade has been factoring in a poor harvest from Argentina for a few weeks now and it was already expected that crops in both the US and Brazil would compensate.

Unfortunately for the sellers, the report overall was more of an affirmation than a game changing statement.

As the wet weather continues for yet another week and farmer patience is tested (to put it politely), local new crop trade appears to have slowed, particularly given that the recent announcement from our friends at Vivergo has encouraged the return of the ‘Yorkshire premium’ within the old crop market.

Further afield, Cocereal have been the first to highlight their concerns by pegging next season’s soft wheat crop at 140.53 million tonnes, a decline of 1.02 million tonnes from the current trading season.

Elsewhere, Ukraine’s wheat and barley harvest in 2018 should be larger year on year, potentially increasing the country’s export potential next season.

According to local crop consultants there, Ukrainian crops are reported to be in “the best condition in four winters” due to a mild winter following an excellent autumn drilling campaign.